I have to admit they've given me a lot of unintentional entertainment. For example, all the games sponsored by People's Health, followed by McDonald's and Coca-Cola.
So what effect is this going to have on the life of the stadium? Do all these improvements and additions put off the eventual move to a stadium on River Road?
The fact remains that the older parts of the stadium were built in 1924 and are about a decade away from being 100 years old. That is far more than the anticipated life-span of the stadium. Structural issues already exist and safety will eventually require that the lower bowl be replaced. About 67,000 surcharge-paying lower bowl ticket holders are getting increasingly annoyed at the dark, narrow ramps and portals, the horrible crowded restrooms and the second-class concessions while LSU keeps gold-plating the new upper decks. That will force the issue as well. With so much invested in the new upper decks, I no longer see LSU taking Joe Dean's assessment that it would be far cheaper to build a shiny new 100,000 seat stadium on River Road than to keep adding upper decks to Tiger Stadium. Fortunately the new decks are stand-alone and are not structurally tied to the lower bowl. But construction space is so limited (only North End Zone access, severely constricted by old oaks and the PMAC) that the demolition and replacement of the lower bowl may take two or more years with no place for LSU to play. Nostalgia for the old stadium is huge, but LSU really did not think this out before demolishing and replacing a 20-year-old upper deck a few years ago and now adding this new one. Now, it will cost a fortune and disrupt LSU football for 2 years when it inevitably must be done. We had much nostalgia for the old Alex Box stadium, but no one regrets the new ball park now that we have it. Time marches on.
